Star Trek: Progeny
by ewolfbalto
Summary: The daughter of William Riker and Deanna Troi is thrown in an adventure that is far bigger than she could have imagined. While all of her dreams of being a Starship Captain are realized, she faces many obstacles in the quest destiny has forced her into. Will she fall, or will she fly through the stars? I like reviews...
1. Opening

Episode 1

She was running through the corridors, blind to whatever could be in her way, people walking, carrying things. She was oblivious to a science officer carrying a tray full of equipment; she only heard the crash and mumbled, "Sorry," as she ran by. Her hazel eyes were full of tears and her lip was quivering. Her light brown hair was a tangled mess and her clothes were in a bit of disarray. She bolted into the turbo lift and said, "bridge." She didn't realize that there was another person in there, the first officer of the ship.

He was a tall man with very light blond hair and blue eyes, he hailed from Norway on Earth. He stood proud and tall from his long years in Starfleet, but he had a kind eye, and this kind eye was very concerned at the young woman's appearance.

"What's wrong Lizzie?" He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She tried to turn away, ashamed at the fact that she was so emotional and she hated to show her emotions. The tall man wasn't going to take her pushing comfort away, so he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sure that everything will be fine and all of your troubles will go away. Computer halt turbo lift!" She sobbed in his arms for a few moments.

She then took several deep breaths and began to compose herself. "Thank you Pieter. I needed that." She began to wipe the tears from her eyes with her hands. "Computer, resume."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. She shook her head. "I see, the first officer isn't good enough for you, got to go and see the Captain."

She chuckled. "Well, he is my dad. He's who I've always gone to when I've been upset." The turbo lift doors opened and she saw the rounded outline of her father. "Daddy!" She cried and ran towards him. He turned and could see her red eyes, so he opened his arms to her. They enfolded her into a warm and almost crushing embrace.

She started crying again, this time more profusely than before in the turbo lift. "Come on sweetie, let's go into my ready room." And with that he guided her to the rear part of the bridge to the captain's ready room. He guided her to the couch, where the clung to him and cried even more intensely.

"He broke up with me!" was all that she could get out between sobs. He just held her, holding her closely, and felt completely hopeless. He knew how things like this could be, and he knew that he couldn't really do anything but hold her and try to comfort her.

"It's alright, Daddy's here and that boy wasn't good for you anyways." He soothed to her. He started humming to her a soft sweet tune, and slowly her sobs turned to deep breaths. She turned her face to look up at him, this time with sleep in her eyes instead of tears.

"You're going to make me fall asleep Dad," she chuckled and rested her head on his chest. He leaned back, keeping his arms enfolded around her.

"I'd rather have you asleep than crying." He said softly. "Do you want to tell me what happened? Or shall I just kill him now?"

"Don't kill him," she mumbled. "He broke up with me, saying that I was too bossy and too crazy for him to handle."

"He called you bossy and crazy!" He gasped. "Yes you can be bossy sometimes, but you're being groomed for being a Starfleet Officer, being bossy is apart of the job, along with listening and controlling your bossiness. But crazy! No Riker has ever been called crazy!" She laughed.

"You know Dad, it's a good thing that I do have this intense dream of Starfleet, even though I won't get into the Academy this year," she mutter sadly.

"Because of you're grades?"

"Yep!" she sighed. "I'm just not one to care about engineering or advanced physics. I like history and literature! Not numbers and formulas."

"Next year you'll get in and you will do fabulously at the Academy, top of your class!" He chuckled. "And until then you get an extra leg up on all of your classmates by having a real starship experience!"

"I've been having a real starship experience ever since I was born! I was born on the _Titan_ as you recall! Except for the couple of years I was with Aunt Kate after Mom died." She became quiet then, she had never known her mother, who had died shortly after her birth.

"If your mother were here she'd probably counsel you and get you going on your feet again! She always got me back my feet in the short time that she and I were married," he leaned back, bringing his hands behind his head. She sat up and leaned back beside him, copying his movements. He chuckled, "the sad thing is that you have none of your mother's qualities. You are just like me!"

"Meaning I will be destined to be a decorated Starship Captain? I like that idea!" She laughed and wiped some tears from her cheeks. "Now if only I could just get over that asshole."

"Don't curse," he barked, to which cocked an eyebrow and sighed. "Although any man who breaks your heart deserves that name." He chuckled. "How about you take a break from your schooling and do bridge duty for a while?"

She jumped up, "really?" He nodded, "Oh thank you! Thank you!" She was smiling and her red eyes were slowly turning back to her normal color. "Can I start now?"

"If you're up to it." He smiled and placed a hand on her cheek. "I sure do know how make you feel better even on your worst days." She smiled and beamed at him happily. "Go now and relieve Ensign Kenny." She bounded up, after giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Let me just go change into my uniform first!" She said, grabbing it from the small closet that was in the ready room.

He got up from the couch and then sat down on the desk. "We're on route for the edge of Federation space. This is a region of space that we have yet to explore, so I think that you will enjoy this, we're likely to encounter things that we've never seen before!"

She stepped out of the closet half dressed. "You always say that!" Her pants of her uniform were on but her shirt was not, she wore only her bra.

"And you are out of uniform!" He raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head, "For Christ's sake we sleep in the same bed! Always have ever since I was a little girl afraid of the monsters!" She stepped back in the closet, pulling on the undershirt and the top shirt. She came out of the closet and began pulling her hair back into a tight ponytail. He turned and looked at her, smiling. She looked nothing like her mother, but didn't resemble him as much either. She was almost a spitting image of her grandmother, her namesake, dead when he was 2 years old. She had auburn hair that was thick and unruly, usually it was a mess regardless of whether or not she had it loose or tied up. Her eyes were hazel, but he swore that they changed depending on the light. Her face was smooth and round, she wasn't a skinny girl, but more of a fit girl. She wore no makeup and rarely ever did, her grandmother Luxana had tried to teach her how to use makeup. It didn't end very well, and she had never worn makeup since.

He chuckled to himself, and thought how much she had grown, from the small child afraid of monsters the first night that she spent with him in his quarters on the _Titan_, to the strong-willed and fierce young woman who now stood before him, with an incredibly bright future ahead of her. He smiled. She noticed his smile and placed her hands on her hips.

"Am I going to expect you to be all fond and cuddly over me in a moment?" She said, her voice mocking him.

He smiled wider, "would you expect me not to! Come here my little girl!" She laughed and then grabbed a small pillow from the couch, throwing it hard at him. He ducked and jumped around the desk, cornering her and enveloping her in a great big bear hug. She snuggled up to his warm body, feeling safe and comfortable. "I was just thinking about how much you've grown, and how much I love my little girl."

"I love you too Daddy." She whispered. "And now I need to go and take my post!" He smiled and held her at arm's length, admiring her once more.

"Alright, I'll let my little girl go out into the big, bold world!" He chuckled. "Go on!" He let go of her, "I'll be out on the bridge in a minute." She smiled and walked briskly to the bridge.

He sat down again at his desk and sighed, "What am I going to do when she goes off to Starfleet?" He shook his head, worried. He took several moments to compose himself, before stepping out onto the bridge. He nodded to his senior officers on the bridge and then sat down in his fancy Captain's Chair. He breathed carefully, remembering when he first sat down in his own captain's chair, technically it had been when the Borg had abducted Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but he didn't consider that to be the first time. He remembered his first day as Captain: she was still alive then. He breathed deeply, "Alright Ensign Riker, what's our heading?"

"Heading 3207 Mark II at Warp 3, Captain," he heard Lizzie's voice say so perfectly, "We are on route to the Federation Border. We will be there in approximately 2 hours."

"Good, anything on our sensors?"

"None sir."

"Good, smooth sailing then!"

Suddenly the ship lurched, the crew was pitched forward suddenly as the momentum was stopped. "What the hell happened?"  
"We were forced out of warp, but by what I don't know!" He heard her voice and suddenly became afraid, he was never easy when they were in situations like this. She turned, "I don't have any sensor readings."

"Neither do mine," said the Operations Officer, a Vulcan with lines in his forehead. "There seems to be some sort of dampening field out there, Captain. I cannot seem to break it."

"Keep trying. Shields?" He turned behind him where tactical officer stood.

"Shields are functioning normally sir."

"Is there anything out there that we can physically see?" He yelled, turning around to his crew frantically. He knew that he was supposed to remain calm, but his thoughts continued to trail back to the young woman at the helm.

"My sensors are picking up some sort of thing out there, I'll put it on the view screen," Lizzie said. She displayed the image on the screen, it was a very large ship of some sort, it was longer than the even the largest starship by at least two full lengths and taller by even more lengths. It was brownish green and had a sleek design. The bridge crew stared at it silently, until Lizzie turned back to face her father and said, "What is it?"

"Some sort of ship, hail them!" He said.

"No response."

"Hail them until they do." He called. "Can our sensors pick up anything?"

"Nothing other than size and the fact that it is a ship. Other than that we cannot detect anything," the Vulcan replied. "There is no record in the Starfleet database of a ship of this size and shape. We are dealing with a new species of aliens it seems."

"They don't seem to want to deal with us however."

"Captain we are being scanned it seems. I am getting reports from all over the ship of some sort of scanning ray." At that moment a red beam suddenly appeared and ran throughout the bridge, stopping occasionally when it hit a person. After the scan the Vulcan continued speaking, "I cannot determine what sort of beam that was, our sensors are not picking its origin up, but we can assume it is from the ship."

"Are they responding to our hails?"

"No sir."

"Can we tell if they are charging weapons?"

"No sir."

"Can we tell anything more about them other than what we know now?"

Lizzie turned, "Do we really have to answer that question?"

Her father smiled but then went grim, "Your humor is not helping much, Ensign, but I guess that is more of a rhetorical question." Lizzie beamed proudly even though she was scolded, she loved being called Ensign. "Can we get out of here?"

"Our warp drive is nonfunctioning, our impulse drive is also down. I can maybe try to give you thrusters to get out of whatever this is, maybe it's a tractor beam."

"Do it!"

As she worked the controls the ship started to shake. "Whatever this is, it breaks our hull integrity when we try to get out of here. We need to stop." She turned to face her father. He nodded. The ship stopped shaking.

"Well this is frustrating," he stood up, making his way to the helm station and placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "We can't go anywhere, and we can't figure out a way to fight back because we know nothing about these people. Nor can we even figure out why these people are holding us."

"Engineering to bridge."

"Go a head."

"Sir, some of the crew members down here just vanished."

"What do you mean vanished?"

"One second they were here, and the next they were gone. Our sensors didn't pick up anything."

"I'll be right there. Commander, you have the bridge. Ensign Riker, you're with me." Lizzie stood and followed right in her father's footsteps into the turbo lift. "Engineering," he said and then turned to Lizzie, "I know that I seem like an overprotective parent sometimes-"

"Sometimes, Dad, most of the time I wonder if you think that I'm going to die every single time something remotely not good happens. I feel like you want to wrap me up in bubble wrap," she sighed frustratingly.

"Computer freeze turbo lift," He placed his hands on her shoulders. "I lost your mother and I don't want to lose you. You're the best thing that's happened to me and if I ever lost you, I don't think I could live with myself."  
"Dad, I'm 18! I'm not a child and I can take care of myself!" She backed away. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm going to be ok?" She sighed and thought for a moment, "Although if your overprotectiveness means that I have to be in your constant sight then I shall be grateful to be the Captain's Shadow. Heck I have more bridge experience than most graduating cadets!"

"That's another reason why I asked you to come with me. Partly because we have a giant ship out there that we know nothing about and we have crew suddenly disappearing and I want to make sure you're safe, and partly because you get to see some action!"

"I'll keep telling myself that's the only reason," she shook her head. "But I can take care of myself. I'll be ok, I promise." She smiled and hugged him. She backed away and then prompted the turbo lift to resume. "Hopefully more than half of engineering is still there."

"I hope so." The doors opened into a corridor and they walked down it towards the doors for engineering. When they opened and walked through, they saw a very different engineering from what they were used to. They were used to people at every station bustling about, and lots of noise and activity. But there was no noise, and only a few people were left. "Where is everyone?" Riker asked the nearest person, a stricken looking ensign

"They disappeared, Chief Engineer, most of the officers, everyone but the ensigns and crewman are gone."

Riker scowled, his face grooved deep with lines. "Try to get the sensors back online, or least get them where we can figure out what is going on and what is out there." He shook his head. "Did anyone see what happened when these people disappeared?"

The ensign shook her head. "No sir. We just turned around and they were gone."

"Alright. Come on, let's get back up to the bridge, and maybe we'll see one of these disappearances." He put a hand on Lizzie's back and guided her up to the bridge. Before they reached the turbo lift however, a slender woman with long black hair and tan skin came running to her.

"Lizzie, what is going on? We can't move or see anything and people are disappearing! I'm scared!" The woman had round blue eyes and ridges in her forehead. She had Klingon blood in her, yet her temper was nonexistent, she was almost passive during conflicts.

"We don't know Miral. Dad, do you mind if she comes to the bridge with us?" She turned to her father and touched his arm.

"Why not? You alright?"  
"Shaken," Miral said steadily. "I'm worried that I'm going to disappear."

They walked into the turbo lift. They reached the bridge and Riker began walking to his chair. "Any updates?"  
"Same as before, we know nothing." His first officer said. Suddenly, a beam of blue appeared around him. He seemed to panic.

"Internal sensors on him now!" Riker yelled, and he attempted to grab his first officer, but it was too late. The light blond, blued eyed man who had been a brother to Lizzie was gone. "Did we get any info on what beam they used?"

"Some sort of particle beam sir, I can't determine what kind."

"Computer, how many crewman are still abroad? And any officers still onboard?"

"There are seventy-three crewman remaining. All officers with the exception of twelve Ensigns and Captain William Riker remain."

"Damn! That's half our crew gone! And most of our officers!" He gripped the chair. "What the hell is going on?"

Suddenly a blue beam similar to the one that had taken the first officer surrounded him. Lizzie spotted it first and jumped towards it, trying to reach for something to hold onto. She screamed as she leaped into the air, her arms reaching into empty space. There was a moment when their eyes met and sheer terror filled the both of them. He could hear her voice but slowly it was draining away. He was screaming too, terrified of what was going to happen, terrified of what these unknown beings were going to do to his daughter. His vision of the bridge faded until it was no more.

Lizzie hit the ground hard, she rolled to her feet and looked around. There were only four other crewman on the bridge. She climbed to her feet and tried to breathe deeply. She closed her eyes and gripped the back of the Captain's chair, his chair. She opened her eyes, hoping he would reappear, but he didn't.

"Daddy?" She whispered softly, unaware to the people around her scrambling in chaos, unsure of what to do.

Miral was the first to approach her. "What do we do, Lizzie?"

Lizzie straightened her body and stood tall. "Are there any other officers on board?"

"None, it's pretty much just us! And most of us are a bunch of young kids, we're scared."

Lizzie breathed deeply, "Do we have sensors back? Do we have anything back?"

A red-faced Bajoran answered back, "Sensors are now online."

Lizzie walked several steps away from the Captain's chair and stared into the view screen. "Good, let's see what's out there. Put whatever we've found on the view screen!" The view screen just showed normal space, like they had seen before the strange vessel had held them captive, taking their officers and crew. "Is there nothing out there?"

"No sir." The Bajoran replied.

"Don't call me sir, Aunt Kate told me to ignore that Starfleet political correctness," She turned sharply, and then remembered what her Aunt Kate would anticipate next.

"No, ma'am?" The Bajoran asked uncertainly.

"I don't like that either." Lizzie said, she sat in the Captain's Chair. The Bridge was quiet, no one was saying a word. Lizzie looked at Miral, she was hoping for answers from her best friend, why were people suddenly listening to her as if she was in charge.

"Shouldn't he just call you 'Captain?'" Miral suggested. "I've heard that lecture before, she's my Aunt Kate too!"

Lizzie stared blankly at her friend, studying the Klingon forehead ridges. She took several deep breaths and then shook her head in disbelief. "You just are assuming me as Captain? But we don't even know if our real Captain will return in a little bit! No, I can't accept this!"

"Captain William Riker is gone." Miral stated, "All of the officers but a few ensigns are gone. We won't get any of them back if we don't have proper leaders. I'm the best engineer left, so I guess I'm Chief Engineer." She gestured to the Bajoran standing behind the tactical position. "Ensign Dal is the best tactical officer left, so I guess he's Chief Tactical Officer. You're our best command officer, since you've had more real life experience than any of us, so I guess you're Captain!" She glared down at her reluctant best friend. "You're sitting in the Captain's Chair! You've basically accepted command!"

"I've never gone to Academy! I haven't had the training! All what I know I've learned from my dad! Who could be halfway across the galaxy at this point! And sitting here arguing over whether or not I should be Captain is wasting time!"

"Yea it is wasting time, but we need a leader. You have the experience and the knowledge of Captain's daughter living on Starships almost her whole life. You've been to planets that we have just dreamed of going to! You've seen stuff that we've only read about in our studies. You also have been given knowledge from your dad over the years because you wanted to be a starship captain. He gave you so much knowledge and lessons about being a Starship Captain that could've only be gained by experience. From the time you were an infant you sat on his lap while he was captaining this ship. You of all of us have a lifetime of experiences." Miral kneeled in front of Lizzie and placed her hands on her knees. Lizzie knew she was in for a lecture from Miral.

"You're also our Captain's daughter. You are so much like him in so many ways, and because of that we trust you. We trust you. We know that you won't lead us astray and we want to follow you." She gestured to the remaining bridge crew, "Did you notice how we quickly followed your orders even though our Captain is gone? That's because we have a new Captain to follow that we trust. We-"

"Alright, alright! You've made your point. I'm the best option it seems and you guys are willing to follow me." Lizzie breathed deeply and looked out towards the region of space in front of the ship. She then turned back to Miral, "Well if you're Chief Engineer then I need you in Engineering, get your butt down there!"  
Miral beamed, "Aye Captain!" She made her way towards the turbo lift.

"I want a report once you get down there. If we have any damage get repairs crews working on it immediately. Make sure we have weapons and shields first though. I don't want to be a sitting duck here."

"Aye Captain!" Miral left the bridge

"Who's on Ops?"

"No one, Captain."

"Who's good at Ops?"

"Ensign Arok, she and I were good friends the Academy," Ensign Dal replied. "She's on board, my sensors are picking her up on Deck 5."

"Call her up."

Within seconds a lovely Vulcan woman appeared on the bridge. She approached Lizzie and said very calmly. "I am Ensign Arok, you request my presence.

Lizzie swiveled in her chair over towards Arok. "Yes, there has been a change in command, Captain William Riker was kidnapped by whatever alien species we encountered. I have assumed command. I was told by Dal that you are a pretty good Ops Officer and I need someone as Chief Ops. Will you assume your new position?"

"I shall serve with the best of my abilities, Captain."

Lizzie smiled and watched as the elegant woman assumed her station. "Miral, what's your report?"

"We've got engines, weapons, everything. It's like these aliens just sort of shut us down and started us up."

"Interesting, keep me updated of any problems." She turned to her new Ops officer. "Arok, what is our position?"

"These aliens transported us approximately ten lights years away from our original position. I am detecting several vessels approaching. They unknown to us."

"Hail them. They might have some answers."

"They are responding."

The view screen changed to show a regal looking alien. His facial features showed that he had some cranial ridges that were similar to Klingons, however they were more refined and did not look very warrior like. "You had better have a good explanation from ventured within two light years of the Khaterian Royal Yacht!"

Lizzie stood up, "This is Captain Elizabeth Riker of the Federation Starship _Enterprise_. We've recently encountered an alien species that have kidnapped more than half of our crew, including our previous captain." She paused, gulping as she suddenly remembered who that was. "We don't mean any harm, but we're wondering if you have any information on this species."

"I am King Rovik. And we have encountered no such peoples. You will vacate the area at once or you will be destroyed."

"Right now I'd really like a Betazoid." She muttered to herself. "You heard the man, let's get out of here. Set our coordinates for our last known position before we were kidnapped." She bowed to the King and said, "Thank you for your cooperation Your Majesty."

"Wait a minute, you said that you were apart of a Federation of some sort. Could you explain this?"

"Yes, the United Federation of Planets. It's a Republic of Planets that all have similar ideas." She breathed deeply, she really wanted to continue on her search for those aliens and get back her father. But of course, now she was Captain, she couldn't just ignore certain aspects of being the Captain.

"I am interested in this Federation. Could my worlds join in it?"

"Yes, after careful review by the Federation. We don't just let anyone into the Federation. You are welcome to meet with me aboard the _Enterprise_ and we may discuss membership in the Federation."

"I would very much like that. However my culture has certain requirements for meeting with new peoples. I do not trust other species to know and carry out the requirements, can I request permission to send over my people to carry out these requirements? You would just have to sit back and relax and let my people take care of it."

"Certainly. We're a bit understaff anyways. As I said before, most of our crew was kidnapped by those aliens I mentioned before."

"I see. We will keep in contact. I look forward to meeting you." The view screen changed to showing the Khaterian vessels. Lizzie sat back down in her chair.

"Arrange for our guests somehow. And while we're at that I might as well figure out who's going where. Because it looks like we're not going to be chasing after our fellow officers for a while." She stood up. "I'll be in my ready-room."

As she entered she felt like it was not her own ready room. The decorations were her father's, it was mix of Betazed and earth culture, a trombone in the corner by his desk, a Betazoid necklace that had belonged to her mother hanging on the wall. She sat down at the desk and began working at the computer, feeling awkward. This was not her ready-room, it was her father's and for some reason she could not get that feeling out of her head. She then remembered that her father wasn't here, or anywhere that she knew, he was out there somewhere, and at that moment she missed him incredibly.

Miral entered the ready-room and found her crying on the couch. She sat down next to her lifelong friend and wrapped an arm around her. "Hey sis, it'll be alright."

"This isn't my ready-room. It's Daddy's!" Lizzie sobbed.

"Why don't we make it yours then?"

Lizzie looked up at her friend, "How?"

"We'll just take out his stuff and put in yours." Lizzie started crying again. "And we'll put it all back once we find him, ok?"

Lizzie looked up. "Yea, that could work. The trombone in the first that needs to go. I'll keep Mom's necklace." She stood up and wiped her eyes. "There's a small closet in her. Maybe I can put his stuff in there." She opened it and found it empty save for a few clothes. She placed the trombone and a few other items into the closet. Miral sat as Lizzie reorganized things or created certain things from replicator and put them where she wanted them. One of them was a sculpture of a horse, another a model of the USS _Enterprise_, the aircraft carrier that had served the United States so dutifully during the 20th and 21st centuries, and then finally, a photo frame.

"Computer, access all files containing images of Captain William Riker and myself." She browsed through all of the hundreds of photos taken between them and finally came to one that she liked. She reproduced it and put it in the frame. She then handed it to Miral. It was an image taken in France, about a month before. They had gone there for her Uncle Jean-Luc's annual party that celebrated Lizzie's birthday. The famous Jean-Luc Picard had shown a great interest in being involved in her life. He was her godfather and he lived up to any and expectations, including holding a big party for her at his vineyard in France. Everyone who invested in Lizzie's life was there, Aunt Kate, or the famous Kathryn Janeway, gave her a Claddagh ring then. Her Aunt Kate had been her godmother, as she and Lizzie's mother had been pregnant about the same time and grew very close. Kate lost her child in birth however, and Lizzie lost her mother, so her Aunt Kate was the closest thing that Lizzie ever had to a mother.

The image was of the just her and father. She was beaming, so happy to see all of her family at one time. Everyone had commented on how beautiful she looked and how much of a lovely young she was. Uncle Jean-Luc said that he was looking forward to seeing her at the Academy shortly, Uncle Worf just smiled as best he could and said that she was becoming a great warrior. In fact, Lizzie had just laughed at something her Uncle Geordi said and in the midst of it, Aunt Kate asked her and her father to look at the camera. In the picture, both of their eyes were laughing, and they looked so happy.

Miral handed the image back to Lizzie and smiled. "I think it looks great! Especially this! Where are you going to put it?"

"Right next to the computer console. It'll be a reminder for me to next forget where I came from." Lizzie smiled.

Miral nodded. "That was a fun day!"

"It was! As I recall, your dad got a bit drunk on the wine though and though that he had forgotten to teach me how to fly!"

Miral laughed. The two girls had been friends since Lizzie was born. Miral was several years older than Lizzie, and had already gone through Starfleet. She was the daughter of Captain Tom Paris and his Chief Engineer/wife, B'Elonna Torres. Like Lizzie, she had also grown up on Starships, and she also called Kathryn Janeway her aunt, as Paris and Torres had served under her in the Delta Quadrant on _Voyager_. The two girls had grown close to each other through their Aunt Kate's influence, and the girls considered each other to be at least cousins.

"Didn't we try to make Worf laugh at one point?"

"Yea, Guinan wanted us to try because she had never seen him laugh before. Snarl, but not really laugh."

"I'm glad that you accepted the position here. If you weren't here right now I don't think we would have done any of this, we'd probably still be wondering what to do."

"Thank your dad for requesting that I serve here! He was the one who got me the posting." Lizzie grew silent, almost somber. "We'll find him. I know we will." She smiled and placed a loving hand on her friend's shoulder.

Lizzie nodded. "Shall we go over the remaining crew and figure out who should go where?"

"Yea. Does that mean I'm your First Officer too?"

"For now. I mean, you're more of a Chief Engineer, but temporarily I think we'll split the duties of a first officer until we can find a better suited one." Lizzie got up and stood next to the replicator, "Mint tea, hot." She turned to Miral, "You want anything?"

"Coffee, black. I swear Aunt Kate brainwashed me into becoming addicted to coffee!"

"Uncle Jean-Luc tried to get me into Earl Gray, it's nice and all, but I like mint tea better." She took a sip. "Did you know it was my grandma's favorite?"  
"Luxana?"

"No, Betty, the one I look like."

"Yea I always wondered how your mom with her raven dark hair and your dad with his dark brown hair produced an auburn! Although people always mistake you and Aunt Kate as mother and daughter. Maybe she really is your mother?"

"Nah! I got some Betazoid empathy. I can sense the feelings of people close to me. Dad never cared to get me training so I never adapted it very much. I never cared much for training either. I just wanted to Captain a Starship!" She sat down at her desk, Miral across from her.

"Captain Riker, the Khaterian Ambassador is here to see you," Arok's voice sounded through into the ready-room through the Comm system.

"Alright, bring him to the Conference Room, have all senior staff, or I should say, you, me, Miral, and Dal meet us there." She looked at Miral, "I think we need more senior staff!"

"Should we activate the EMH?"

"Not yet, we haven't had any causalities, and if we do, I want to activate the Mark I if we can. You know how fond we are of our Doctor!" Lizzie smiled.

"Alright, let's hope we don't have to use it, you know how I annoyed I get with him!"

"You and your mother both!" Lizzie chuckled as they walked out of her new ready-room.

The Khaterian Ambassador had informed the makeshift senior staff of what to expect when they met the King of the Khaterians. Lizzie tried to listen and to remember as much as she could. She remembered her father lecturing to her on the importance of First Contact and how to make it as successful as possible. She had been on First Contact missions before, but always under the guidance of her father or another senior officer. She never had conducted one on her own, she was nervous.

Ten minutes later, she and Miral went into the transporter room to greet their guest. She shifted back and forth on the balls of her feet while they waited for the coordinates to be sent to them. Miral noticed and just shook her head. Lizzie noticed this.

"I'm nervous and a bit bored! That's all! I've got a king coming to visit me interested in joining the Federation. This is awesome but I just want to get this over with so we can search for the rest of our crew!" Lizzie began pacing. "What's taking them so long?"

"Look, it'll happen when it happens. You're a Federation Captain now, even if it's just acting Captain until we get back to Headquarters and we get more crewmembers. And besides, we might not be able to find who took our crew without the help of Starfleet. We barely know anything about them." Miral sighed. "Just chill, ok?"

"Isn't it funny how I'm so impatient and headstrong like your mom and you're so relaxed and sensible like how apparently my mom was?" Lizzie shook her head while she paced.

"Captain, we are receiving the coordinates."

"Energize." Lizzie stopped pacing and watched as shapes were forming on the transporter pad, but they weren't figures of people. It was a box of some sort. Just one box. "Crewman, what is that?"

"I'm detecting ion explosives. My guess is that it's a bomb and it's about a to detonate!"

"Beam it off now!" There was a blast of light as the transporter barely got most of the bomb off of the ship, the remaining light was what the transporter had not managed to get off the ship. There was an explosion just off the port bow, where the crewman had transported the bomb. The ship rocked as the shockwaves hit her. Lizzie and Miral were thrown to the ground. The ship rocked even more as phaser fire began to hit her hull. Lizzie bolted to the bridge while Miral darted to Engineering.

"What's going on?" Lizzie demanded as she entered the bridge.

"The Khaterian's are firing at us!" Dal yelled.

"No shit! Can we get out of here?" Lizzie stumbled into her chair, a plasma conduit exploded at the rear of the bridge, sending sparks everywhere.

"We're surrounded by them."  
"Then make a hole or something! I don't know, blow them up!" Dal fired off a spread of photon torpedoes, destroying one of the ships. "Get us out of here!" The ship lurched as she sped into Warp. "Let's go back to the last known position where we saw that big ship that took our crew. Then we won't have to deal with any crazy Kings again, maybe!"

When the ship reached the coordinates she dropped out warp with jolt. Lizzie stood up from her chair and walked closer to the view screen. The ship was still there, its large brown hull seemed to loom over them with a foreboding presence. She turned to Dal and said, "Do we have sensors?" Dal affirmed that sensors were working. "Arok, can we pick up anything from them? The crew maybe?"

"My sensors are picking up the crews comm badges, but not life signs. We do have transporters."

"Can we get a lock on them?"

"Affirmative."  
"Start beaming them over. Start with Captain Will Riker's badge and beam him directly here." Lizzie sat down in her chair. For this brief period of time she was really enjoying being Captain and was a little bit apphrensive about the fact that her father might be coming back. She was extremely worried for his safety, but was afraid that she might not get to enjoy being Captain again, but perhaps he would make her a regular part of the crew, maybe even apart of the senior officers. Certainly he would be proud of her for acting like such a good Captain.

The transporter only brought over the comm badge. It lay on the floor, not attached to its owner. Lizzie got up and kneeled to pick it up. She picked it up and examined it. "Hail them," was all she could say.

"They are not responding."

"Charge weapons and fire at their shields."

"Captain," Dal cried, "They're charging their weap-" He was cut off by a jolt as the enemy ship fired some sort of weapon onto them. The ship suddenly went dark save for the emergency lights. The crew was forced to the floor as the impact sent the ship rolling through space.

"What the hell happened?" Lizzie cried as she got up, she slapped the comm badge to her chest, along with her primary comm badge. She fell once more as another weapon hit the ship. Plasma bursts sent sparks throughout the bridge, lighting the room in bursts.

Dal climbed to his feet and crawled to his post. "They fired some sort of weapon at us, our sensors have never seen it before. They've knocked out most of systems, except life support is completely undamaged. The damage to our systems are extensive, we're pretty much dead in the water."

"Damn! Do we have casualties?"

"It seems like we do."

"Alright. Arok, I want you to come with me, we're gone go down and help Miral set things back up. Dal, you have the bridge."  
"Aye Captain?" He said sheepishly as Arok and Lizzie made their way to where the Jefferies tube was. "Wait, I have the bridge? But I'm just an ensign?"

Lizzie turned sharply, "Dal, it looks like we're going to be without the rest of the crew for a while. We've got major damage and you're my new tactical officer. I have a feeling by the time we get back to Federation space you'll be a Lieutenant Commander!" She and Arok then climbed through into the tube.

Lizzie led the way, "So Arok, where are you from?"

"Vulcan, if you haven't noticed."  
"Yea I did, but I didn't know if you were born on a colony or something. How long have you been serving with us?"

"This is my first assignment since graduating from the Academy."

"What degree did you get?"

"Systems Engineering, much to the dismay of my family. They wanted me to serve the Vulcan Society, not Starfleet."

"Well I'm glad you're here. How'd you like the Academy? Or shall I say, what was it like?"

"You did not go to the Academy? Then how did you gain the rank of Ensign and then take command of the ship?"

"Do you know what my last name is?"

"You are Elizabeth Luxana Riker, daughter of Captain William Thomas Riker and Commander Deanna Troi. I should have guessed that your family connection would gain you rank and privilege."

"I've been on Starships all my life. I was born on the Titan, my dad's first command. Well second technically if you don't count the first Borg Invasion where my dad had the _Enterprise-D_ at his command when my Uncle Jean-Luc was kidnapped by them."

"Your Uncle is Jean-Luc Picard? But your mother and your father have no siblings?"

"My mom had a sister, but she died young. Technically I do have an Uncle Tom, he's basically a Transporter clone of my dad. He served in Starfleet before joining the Marquis. He was spared the Maquis massacre and served a couple of years in a Starfleet penal camp before deciding to settle down with a nice girl from Mississippi on Riesa. I think they have a little bed and breakfast there. Dad and I have visited him there a couple of times and he comes to my birthday at my Uncle Jean-Luc's every year."

"You did not explain your relation to Jean-Luc Picard."

"Ah, he's my godfather. I've got a lot of famous people in my extended family. Admiral Janeway is my godmother and is basically a mother to me. She took me in after her baby was stillborn. The Chief of Starfleet Medical is my Aunt Bev. The _Aries_ Captain and Chief Engineer are my Uncle Tom and my Aunt B'Ellona, who are also the parents of Miral Paris-Torres. My Uncle Data died just before I was born, so I never got to know him, but Before is pretty cool."

"Do you always like to talk about your famous family?"

"Yep! My Uncle Worf is a member of the Klingon High Council! My Uncle Geordi is the Captain of the _Interceptor_. Um, let's see, who else is famous in my family. There's Uncle Tuvok, and of course Uncle Neelix. Neelix lives pretty far away, but he would always read me bedtime stories when my dad was too busy to read me them."

"You're family talk is tiring me."

"Then why don't we talk about your family?"

"I prefer not to. Perhaps another subject of conversation, because you seem like you wish to talk a bit at the present."

"I'm nervous." Lizzie sat back, exhausted. "My dad has been kidnapped and I don't know if he's ok or not. I've been thrust into being Captain of this ship and I'm afraid I'm going to mess up. I'm also nervous that when we get back to Starfleet I'm going to have this command taken away from me because I'm really enjoying myself." She sighed. "I usually don't talk this much, but I've a bit nervous."

"Your reasons are logical, you have a lot of risk at hand. However your feeling of nervousness is not logical."  
"Because you're a Vulcan and all emotions are illogical."  
Arok sat beside her. "That's not why your feelings are illogical. They are illogical because I see no reason why Starfleet would take away your command. You have done nothing but proved to be a worthy Captain. You have taken command in a very trying situation. You have gotten away from not one but two dangers and now you're being resourceful in guiding us back to our track. You also made a somewhat successful First Contact, even if they were only trying to trap us."

Lizzie nodded. "I got out of that didn't I!"

"Indeed you did. And for this being your first day as Captain you have done a fine job, especially since you have had a lack of proper training."

"I guess if I get out of this I would like to go to the Academy. I think this would prove I'm worthy of it!"

"I would write you a letter of recommendation. Now shall we continue?"

"Carry on!" They continued on until they reached engineering, which was a mess because of what the weapon had done. When they reached Miral, she already looked haggard and tired. "Miral, what can we do?"

"Lizzie you know nothing of engineering so I can't say you're much help. Arok, do you know anything about engineering? I could use a hand!"

Arok stood tall, as usual of a Vulcan. "I am skill in engineering."

"Good, I need you to help me get main power back online. What the hell happened up there?"

"The Khaterians fired at us."

"I know that! But what knocked us out?"

"The same Aliens that kidnapped our crew. They have some sort of weapon that pretty much knocked all but life support out."

"Remind me when I meet them to not rip their throats out. I'm having a hell of a time getting things running." Miral dragged Arok to another console.

"Miral what can I do?"

There was a burst of light from one of the consoles. "Well I've just got the replicators back online. Maybe you could bring us some food or something. I know it's not very Captainy of you but-"

"Rule #1 of being a Captain, 'Always look out for your crew!'" Lizzie exclaimed. "What do you want?"

"Where did you get that rule?" Miral stared her.

"I just made it up! And if getting you guys food takes care of you then I will do it!" Lizzie smiled. "Now what do you want?"

"Some sort of finger food, something I can grab easily while I'm working. And I really don't care what it is! The replicators that working normally are in Ten Forward. I'd go there to get everything."

"Got it! Chicken fingers good?"  
Arok stared at Lizzie. "Chickens do not have fingers."

Lizzie shook her head. "It's an earth expression. Miral?"

"That sounds awesome! Maybe some dip of some sort? Something that won't set off a plasma burst though?"

"You got it!" Lizzie turned to the rest of the engineering crew, which was only about a dozen people. "Anyone else want food? Anyone?" Several people suddenly surrounded her with orders for food. She returned quiet a few minutes later, with a cart of food. Thankfully by that time the turbo lifts had been power, but there was still much work to do. Lizzie was greeted with great appreciation from the crew down in Engineering.

After delivering the food, she realized that she was more of a disturbance in Engineering and decided to go back up to the bridge. When she reached there, the regular lights were back on and the emergency ones were shut off. She asked for a report from Dal. Systems were slowly coming back online fairly quickly, with production increasing shortly after Lizzie brought the food to Engineering. Communications was back up and Miral was giving regular reports when things were being fixed. Repairs were finishing up sooner than expected.

"Either I have a damn good Engineer, or we overestimated what actually happened!" Lizzie commented to Dal. She was helping me get the shields back up from the bridge.

"With almost a skeleton crew you'd think that we were super being or something!" Dal commented. "Hey can you hand me that plasma alignment tool?"  
Lizzie handed it to him. "It's a shame I didn't pay much attention to engineering, then I would feel more helpful." She sat back onto her heels.

"You're doing fine, and besides, the Captain shouldn't know everything about engineering, they should just know enough to lead and the limits of their crew and ship." Dal smiled. He was raven black hair and astonishing blue eyes that danced when he smiled.

"I guess I'm just being a bit insecure on my first day as Captain. This has never happened to me before!" Lizzie said as she stood up. The tactical panel came back on. "And it looks like we're back in business!"

Dal climbed out of the little hole where he had been working. "Looks like! Good job Captain!"

"Good job Dal! Now we've got sensors back online it looks like! Good job Miral!" Lizzie started accessing the sensor files. "We're a little bit closer to Federation Space. Once we get warp back online we're going to go back to Earth. We can't continue the search for Captain Riker and the rest of the crew with barely half our crew. Plus we might need some repairs at the dry dock there."

"And you'd prefer to go back to Earth?"

"Well I'll also petition to Starfleet Command to keep all of us at our current rank, which by the way once we get everything back up, I'm going to promote everyone."

"I appreciate that Captain, I didn't expect that I would be promoted so soon!" Dal laughed.

"And I didn't expect to be Captain when I'm only 18!" Lizzie chuckled. "I'll be in my ready-room. I've got to figure out where everyone is going to be promoted to!" She smiled as she strode away into her ready-room.

About a day later, they had finally brought the Warp Engine Online. The crew had decided to gather in Engineering surrounding the Warp Drive for the Captain was about the make several announcements. Captain Elizabeth Riker stood on a small little platform just in front of the warp drive so that she could see everyone surrounding her. Her uniform had changed from the typical Ensign Uniform, for she now had the four stars on her collar befitted to her new rank as Captain. She stood proud and tall with her hair tied back into tight ponytail. Miral stood to her right, with her thick Klingon hair braided back behind her. Dal stood to Captain Riker's left and Arok stood next to him.

"Ladies and Gentleman. This is technically our first crew meeting I guess you could call it." Lizzie smiled. "I'm new to this whole Captain business so I'm not exactly sure how to start." She took a deep breath. "First off, my hearty thanks and congratulations go to Miral Paris-Torres and the entire Engineering crew bringing all of our systems back online, as well as the rest of this crew who have been working around the clock to repair us as much as possible. _Enterprise_ is now back to where it was before the Aliens took a good part of our crew, and I didn't expect it to be that way so soon."

Lizzie paused, thinking about what she was going to say next. "Before I go any further, I'd like to do basically a mass promotion. This crew of crewmen and ensigns have proved themselves more than worthy of being equal to a first rank starship crew, and I believe that all of you deserve a promotion. While everyone will be receiving a promotion, I'd like to start off with the big ones. Ensign Miral Paris-Torres has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and Chief Engineer. Ensign Dal Rovis has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and Chief Tactical Officer. Ensign Arok has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and Chief Operations Officer." She paused. "The rest of the promotions will be announced by your department heads. As you notice I have yet to decide my First Officer. Well, let's just say I'm wanting to find the right one. So for a while now, I'll be evaluating potential candidates from this crew and other crews."

She paused and swallowed hard. "As for the remaining crew, the crew who is not here. We will continue searching for them. We will continue to find who stole them from us and we will get our loved ones back. At the moment we cannot continue the search, as we do not have the resources, but once we acquire them, we will be able to continue the search once more. We will not give up, but we will also not give up the Missions that Starfleet gives us, because for all we know, each mission could bring us closer to solving the mystery of where our crew members went and who took them.

"I for one, will not assume that they are dead or lost to this world. I have a personal need to fulfill by searching, and that is finding my father, our beloved Captain William Riker. I will not give up the search for my loved one, nor will I expect any of you to give this up, for we have far too much to lose by not searching for our friends and family.

"I do not expect you to follow me until the ends of the Galaxy, but I would appreciate your following me until we have found our lost crew members. It would mean a great deal to me personally, to know that I have your backing. I also do not expect you to support me against Starfleet, who may for all I know demote us all and send us back to being ensigns and crewmen. I hope that you will though, because I will be eternally grateful. In this short time I've been your Captain, I've thoroughly enjoyed being your leader, and having your trust in me." She gazed throughout the faces of her crew, she saw a few tears in the audience, which she did not expect.

Arok spoke up, "Captain Riker, this past couple of days have proved to me that you are a worthy leader. You stood up when you were needed and you have led us from danger, despite your inexperience. It is logical for us to support you when you have proven yourself worth of command."

Lizzie smiled and mouthed a thank you. Dal then spoke up, "I'm convinced that I should follow you to the ends of Space and Time. Starfleet won't be our worst adversary. Remember, we've got this mysterious species, the Borg are still out there, Cardassians, Ferengi, the Khaterians, a whole bunch of very scary enemies, and I'll be honest, they don't seem all that scary when we've got you in charge of this ship.

Lizzie was touched. "Jeez! I've only been Captain for a couple of days and you guys want to follow me no matter what! What is up with that?" She threw her hands up in the air.

One young man in an engineer's uniform said, "Well I mean, you did bring engineering food, and you've promoted us for our hard work. How could we not want to follow you? You've proven to us that you care about our well-being and you want us to succeed! We like that."

Lizzie smiled. "Alright, alright. I have a totally awesome crew who will follow me anywhere. I give you guys that credit though!" She then placed her hands on her hips, "Now why don't we get on the road and fire up this Warp Engine! Miral, are helm controls relocated here?"

"Yes ma'am!" Miral smiled. "Ensign Kenny is managing the controls, just waiting for your orders!"

Lizzie smiled. "Alright." She brought up her right hand, "Set a course to Earth, Warp Factor 7." She dropped her hand in the same fashion she had seen her Uncle Jean-Luc many times do. "And in the words of my Uncle Jean-Luc, 'Engage!'" She was greeted with cheers and applause as the ship lurched into warp, speeding toward Earth.


	2. Reconnection

Episode 2

She was dreaming, she knew she was, but she couldn't wake up from the dream. She tossed and turned in her bed, thrashing the covers around her. She could hear voices screaming into her and she yelled at them to stop, but she was only yelling into darkness. She could see the faces and tried to look away, but everywhere her consciousness looked they were there, glaring, shaking their heads at her.

She awoke with a start and flung her upper body up from where she was in a prostrate form. She was breathing heavily and her skin glistened with sweat. She wiped her brow and got out of her bed. As she stood, her breathing calmed, her sense came back to her. She stared out of the window into space. Stars were zooming past her at incredible speeds. She knew that the ship was at warp and would continue at warp until they reached Earth. They were only a day or so away, Arok knew the exact time that they would arrive, every time she asked the elegant Vulcan she would go off into a long stream of numbers. On days that Lizzie was anxious, which were more frequent now they were closer to Earth, she would snap at Arok a quick "thank you."

Ever since she had talked to her Uncle Jean-Luc five days ago she had been testy. Her had informed her that a board review would be conducted to determine whether or not she would continue to command the _Enterprise_ or whether she would be demoted back to Ensign, or provisional Ensign that is, and continue schooling with whoever would take her until she was to enter the Academy. The crew had found out about this review and knew that they were in danger of losing their positions as well, for she had promoted every single one of the 63 crew members that remained after the mysterious aliens had kidnapped most of the crew.

She was impressed by how patient they had been with her, especially after this potentially bad news. She reminded herself that she would really need to praise her crew once this board review got going. She was still amazed at how they trusted her, even though she was inexperience, at how they had faith in her in things that even she did not realize she could do. She gazed out the window and smiled. She had a damn good crew under her hands, that's why she felt that all of them were in need of a promotion.

She decided to get dressed, as she really didn't feel like getting back to sleep. Maybe she'd activate the EMH and have him give her some good sedatives if she got really tired, but for now she didn't care much for sleep or bad dreams, which were now frequent.

She walked to the closet and found that his uniform was still there. She hadn't touched her father's things since he was kidnapped. She didn't want to. She wanted reminders that he was still out there, and that she had to keep looking for him. Sometimes, when she had her guard down, she would half expect him to come striding into their quarters with his heavy and awkward gait. She had realized in his old age that he had developed a somewhat misaligned gait where his spine bent to the left and he sort of held his left side tightly. She missed that walk of his and closed her eyes and she could see him walking towards her with a smile on his face.

Then she opened her eyes. Was it really a good idea for her to remembering all of the small things about her father like this? She shook it out of her head and decided to keep getting dressed. She pulled on her uniform, attached the four pips to her collar, signifying her rank, combed her hair back into a tight ponytail, and then strode out of her quarters. She walked confidently, as her confidence in herself and risen sharply over the last week or so while her crew made their way back to Earth.

As she walked she greeted whoever walked past her, and she was met with smiles and friendly "hellos." She smiled to herself, happy for the friendly faces.

She stepped into the turbo lift and said quietly "bridge." It was 0300 hours and pretty much everyone was asleep, save for a few brave night shift souls. Arok would have the bridge and would be the only one not trying to get rid of sleep.

Captain Elizabeth Riker stepped off of the turbo lift and on the bridge. She was greeted with Arok standing up and saying, "Captain on the Bridge." The rest of the bridge crew stood up along with Arok. Lizzie simply waved her hand and just smiled.

"Thanks, but I'd prefer not to have that. Anything new?"

"We are approximately five hours three minutes and twenty nine point two seconds closer to Earth Captain." Arok said precisely.

"Thank you Arok. Well, carry on. I'll be in my ready room." She said quietly and she strode into her ready room. She walked behind the desk and sat down in her chair. She picked up pad that Miral had given her just before she had left the bridge for dinner that evening. It wasn't related to anything official, it was just a novel that Miral loved, had to do with something about Vampires in the 21st century. Lizzie began reading and found the quality of writing lacking and put it down. She sighed and wondered what she could do in the meantime while she was just waiting for the day shifts to begin, which was in a while. She stared out of the windows of her ready room and began to daydream.

The strange noise of someone requesting to enter her ready room brought her out of her daydream. "Come in," she said, playing with her computer monitor, trying to look busy.

Arok came in. "My apologies for disturbing you Captain."

"Not at all," she sighed. "What's up?"

"Admiral Picard is requesting to speak with you, Captain, he is on the secure channel." Arok then stood silently.

"Thank you Arok, you're dismissed." After she left, Lizzie hit several items on her computer panel, and soon her Uncle Jean-Luc's face was looking right at her. "How'd you know I was up this early Uncle Jean-Luc?"

The balding old man chuckled. "A lucky guess! How are you Lizzie?"

"Fine, fine. And you?" She smiled. She hoped that this would an informal call.

"Pretty well, the sun is shining here in La Barre. And the grapes are growing! How is your ship doing?" Lizzie noted that this was the first time that he had referred to the _Enterprise_ as her ship.

"Decent. We're still experiencing some trouble with the warp drive at times. The plasma fluctuates too much. We suspect that the weapons that were fired on us by the aliens somehow affected our systems in ways we can't figure out yet. Miral, who as you know, is brilliant in engineering, keeps on complaining that we don't have the resources to fix these problems, or find out what is causing them."

"I see. Well when you get back _Enterprise_ will be dry docked and we'll have repairs crews working on it." His face suddenly turned grave. "Are you nervous for the review board?"

"Yes, as is the rest of my crew. If you remember I promoted all of them. They really got this ship but up and running in a very short amount of time. We have very few numbers but we're a good crew." Lizzie smiled nervously. "Also I like being Captain, well I shouldn't say just like, I love it!" She tried to chuckle.

"I've been assigned to head the review board, as well as your Aunt Kate, and some other admirals. I'm on your side, as is your Aunt Kate, but we're not sure about the rest of the board. One of them in particular is a big stickler for doing things by the book, meaning that you attend the Academy and move up the ranks."

"And you disagree?"

He nodded, his baldhead shining against the French sun, which infiltrated through the windows of his house. "Yes. I've known you since before you were born, and I've always had confidence in your abilities as a leader. I remember when you were little you'd lead the other children at your birthday party to adventures and they all just sort of followed you. And besides your father, Pieter, and Simmons, you're the one who knows the _USS Enterprise-F_ better than anyone else!"

"Miral knows her better than me!" Lizzie laughed. "So I have a chance of remaining Captain."

"The board must agree unanimously that you are best fit as Captain. There will be a separate board that will determine whether or not the rest of your crew will remain at the ranks you gave them. While I think it's a bit hasty to promote all of your remaining crew, I find it admirable that you want them to recognized for their hard work." He smiled.

"So the hard part is just getting the review board to all agree!" Lizzie smiled. "Can't be too hard. I mean I've already got two out of the five on my side!"

Her Uncle Jean-Luc chuckled, his eyes gathering crow's feet. He still looked rather handsome for his old age. He was even older than her father! "Yes indeed! Would you like to stay with me at my Vineyard while the review board is going on? It's taking place in Paris, so we'll be nearby, plus your Aunt Kate is already here!"  
Lizzie smiled. "Really? Can I talk to her?"

"I'll check and see if she's busy! She's been working on your case, using the evidence that we have so far." He smiled. "Would you mind waiting a moment?"

"I'll wait many moments to talk to Aunt Kate!" Lizzie beamed. He left the screen for a moment and he could him yell to her godmother. After several seconds, the beaming face of her godmother appeared. "Aunt Kate!" Lizzie exclaimed, "How are you?"

"Couldn't be better!" The older woman smiled. Her own dark brown hair was now flecked with gray and there were some wrinkles in her soft face. "And how are you? _Captain_?"

"Lovely!" Lizzie said, "just nervous about the review board though."

"Don't worry! I've got it all handled! Yes you are far too young to be a Captain, especially of a big starship like _Enterprise_ but you deserve to keep this posting. And besides, Starfleet is going to want someone to go after the remaining crew members that the aliens kidnapped, and if anyone knows anything about them it's you!" she smiled. Lizzie smiled back; she loved how it seemed like everyone she loved believed in her.

"You really think so?" Lizzie asked. Kathryn nodded. "And I guess I want to do whatever I can get my father back. You know how close we are."

"I've never seen a more dedicated father than yours. Don't worry. He'll be found. If not by you, then Starfleet will find him." She smiled uneasily. Lizzie knew that she was thinking of how dangerous being in Starfleet really could be. If anyone knew of the danger it was her Aunt Kate, after spending seven years stranded in the Delta Quadrant in close proximity to the Borg and many other unknown enemies, all while being cut off from Starfleet.

The conversation continued on more about how Lizzie was enjoying being Captain, and how the ship was doing. They talked about their first moments as Captain, for Aunt Kate, it was a joyous time that she relished, for Lizzie, it was a rather terrifying chunk of moments. Aunt Kate was telling a story of how she brought together two rivals crews, a story that Lizzie had heard many times but loved to hear, when the room went dark and the transmission was interrupted. The screen changed and a handsome face appeared on the screen.

"Hello Lizzie. How are you today?"

Lizzie jumped back. "What the? Oh, you're a Q aren't you?"

The Q looked rather disappointed. "Oh, you're not afraid of me or anything?"

"Nope!" Lizzie shook her head. She had heard and met other Qs, including the infamous Q who constantly loved to mess with her Uncle Jean-Luc. "What do you want? To provoke us, to cause mischief?"

The lights went on and suddenly a devastatingly handsome man appeared in the ready-room with her. He wore a typical Starfleet Captain's uniform, which was very similar to the ones that were worn by Captain Jean-Luc Picard when he was Captain of the _Enterprise-E_. They had colored undershirts that either a deep red, vibrant yellow, or a rich blue, with pips around the collar to signify rank, this Q wore red with four pips. The shoulders were of a quilted black instead of the quilted gray; the rest of the uniform was of a sleek gray fabric that cut off just below the knees, where sleek black leather boots started.

The Q was laying prostrate on her ready-room couch, and she got up to face him square on. He had a very handsome face, if he wasn't a Q Lizzie would consider him attractive. He had dark blond hair and crystal clear blue eyes that one could get lost in. He smiled up at her, and then with a sudden movement, brought up his hand and gestured towards her to come closer. She was suddenly thrown forward and onto the couch and into his arms.

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" She looked away from him as she lay on top of him.

"Just some fun!" He then brought up his hands and whisked her away. She flew back onto the other side of the couch.

She glared at him. "Really? You just want to mess with me and torment with your stupid antics?"

"Actually no," He then stood up with a flash and turned to her. "The Q Continuum has sent me to assist you. They've decided that you're in a bit of a bind and that you deserve our help."

Lizzie looked up at him. "No, I don't need your help. I'm perfectly fine with not having some know it all Q giving me help! So it would be just nice if you could just leave!"

"As you wish! But I'll leave a little present for your first! For I've seen your future and you will be needing what I'm going to give you!" With a flash of light he disappeared.

Lizzie sighed and then walked over to her desk and sat down, "Good riddance!" Suddenly she felt sleep overcome her, for once she felt tired and closed her eyes, letting sleep come over her. She knew that sometimes Captain's got some shuteye in their ready-rooms. Her father joked about it with her frequently. She could feel herself slowly falling asleep when suddenly Arok's voice awoke her.

"Captain Riker," the stern voice came to her through her sleep. "Are you there?"

Lizzie gathered herself together, "Yes, yes! What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I cannot see you at all." Arok responded. Lizzie cursed the Vulcan reason. "There is something on the bridge that I believe you should see."

"I'll be right there." Lizzie stood up and stretched. She could suddenly feel something, something weird. It seemed like fear and confusion. She figured it was her limited empathic abilities but she could not figure out where it came from. It was not from Miral, nor her father, but someone else. She did not know whom though. She shook the thoughts away and walked onto the bridge.

She stopped dead in her tracks, for standing on the bridge, was a woman, where the thoughts and feelings were coming from. A woman she hadn't seen on the bridge before. She was short, about Lizzie height, maybe an inch or so taller. She had long dark hair that was straight but voluminous, it gently cascaded over her shoulders. She had a very kind face that was somewhat lined with age but still held a good deal of beauty. She had deep black eyes that seemed harsh but had more of a softer, loving sort of feel to them. She wore what looked to be an older Starfleet Uniform, which gray quilted shoulders, sleek black pants and shirt, and with a blue undershirt. The three pips showed that she was a Commander. She had a somewhat familiar look to her that Lizzie could not pinpoint, but she still felt threatened by this woman that just appeared on the bridge.

"Who the hell are you?" Lizzie snapped. "And how the hell did you get on my ship?"

"I have no idea where I am or who you are! One minute I was in my quarters in the next I was here!" The woman replied, her voice was laced with a thick accent that was smooth like silk.

Lizzie suddenly heard a thought, _isn't she a bit rude?_ And realized it wasn't her voice but the woman's. "I heard that!"

"Heard what? I didn't say anything." The woman suddenly looked surprised. "You're a Betazoid?"

"A quarter. My mother was half-Betazoid and my father full human. But I was never trained to feel the emotions of other unless they were really close to me, nor would I ever be able to read their thoughts!" Lizzie stared at her with her mouth agape.

"Well I know your lineage but who are you?" The woman began to look frustrated. "And where is my daughter? I remember I was giving birth to her and then here!"

"I don't know where your daughter is, but I'm Captain Elizabeth Riker of the _USS Enterprise-F_." Lizzie said proudly and raised her chest a little bit to look taller. This was about the fifth time she had introduced herself as Captain of the_ Enterprise_ and she was extremely proud of it.

"_Enterprise_? Riker? We must be related by marriage then. I'm married to Captain Will Riker of the _Titan_."

Lizzie stared at her. "The _Titan_ was scrapped ten years ago. And you must be married another Will Riker, the Will Riker I know is a widower." She gulped as she remember father.

"Widower?" The woman looked hard at Lizzie, and then her expression turned softer, almost sad. "And the _Titan_ gone. I enjoyed that ship a lot. I must've been kidnapped or put into stasis." She began walking around the bridge. "But then where did Will and my daughter go?"

"Look, ma'am, I don't really want to distract my bridge crew, would you like step into my ready-room?" Lizzie said in a rather annoyed voice. She gestured toward the ready-room, which was near the rear of the bridge. The woman nodded and walked into the ready-room a head of Lizzie, she sat on the couch. Lizzie walked over to the replicator, "Would you like something to eat or drink?"

The woman nodded. "What I would really like now is some chocolate? Hot chocolate would be nice."

Lizzie nodded. "Computer, a hot chocolate and a hot mint tea please." The computer produced a mug of hot chocolate and a mug of hot mint tea. She handed the hot chocolate to the woman. "My mother loved chocolate. It was like an addiction to her apparently."

"Really. You're mother and I would get along very well." The woman smiled and took a sip of her tea.

"I'm sure you would if she were here." She placed her mug down on her desk and sat down in her chair.

"Where is she?"

"She died giving birth to me. Well technically before I was born."

"I'm sorry." The woman said. "How did she die?"

"Eclampsia." Lizzie said without much emotion. "I was born Caesarian Section. I never met her. My father and I were very close so I didn't really miss her presence."

"You didn't have a mother-figure in your life? Someone to guide you in the ways of being a woman?" The woman looked over the desk to Lizzie.

"Yes, there's my Aunt Kate." She remarked. "And my Aunt Bev, and Aunt B'Ellona." She nodded. "What was your name again?" She took a drink of her tea.

"Commander Deanna Troi."

Lizzie choked on her tea. "What?!" She stood up. "You can't be my mother! She died almost twenty years ago! This must be Q, it has to be! Or it's some sort of trick! He would do something like this to me. Although he did say that he would give me something that I 'needed,' perhaps this is what he intended. She appeared on the bridge just after Q disappeared. And this isn't some sort of trick because I can read her emotions. And I can read emotions of people who are close to me. But then I also heard her thoughts. That might be because she is my mother and mother and children can hear each others' thoughts without training!" She sat down on the couch next to the woman who she thought must be her mother.

"That would explain why I was suddenly brought here and the last thing I remember was giving birth to you." Deanna smiled. "Do you believe that I am your mother?"

"We could do DNA testing? But we don't have Doctor." Lizzie sat back and sighed.

"You have a lot to catch me up on it seems like. I've missed almost twenty years if you said correctly." Her mother said and she placed an arm around her daughter. "Are all Starships equipped with an EMH?"

Lizzie nodded. "Yes, we actually have a choice to pick who is the EMH as well. I like the Mark I. Miral's godfather is a Mark I-EMH and I like him a lot." She stood up. "Before we assume any more, perhaps we should go and have him do a DNA test on us."

"I agree." And with that they went to Sick Bay.

Several hours later Lizzie was with Miral talking about the condition of the Warp Drive. It was working, but again, as she had informed her Uncle Jean-Luc, there were a lot of power fluctuations. Miral and the Engineering team had been working around the clock to keep those power fluctuations in check. Miral was explaining how they needed to get to the nearest Starbase and that it was unlikely that they would reach Earth without blowing up first because of a core breach. Lizzie was saying that she was trying, but Starfleet wouldn't let her stop at the nearest Starbase and that she would have to make do with keeping the Warp Drive barely taped together.

Miral was unhappy about this and groaned with frustration when she spotted a woman with dark hair walking towards them. She noticed that she was dressed in the old style uniforms, which was worn by no one these days except the old retired officers who wanted to hold on to the old days, when Picard and Janeway were Captain's and not Admirals. She leaned over to Lizzie and whispered, "Who is that? I haven't seen her before."

"Perhaps my mother."

Miral gaped at her. "What?!" She brought her face back away from Lizzie's in shock. "No, she can't be! Your mother died right before you were born. I was there! I was staying with Aunt Kate. I distinctively remember-"

"Q." Her lifelong friend said quietly. Miral nodded silently. "I got a visit from one, not the same Q we know though. This Q was actually handsome."

"I don't think Q would like that very much…" Miral remarked. "So you think that Q brought her back to life."

Lizzie nodded. "We just had the Doctor do a DNA scan on us. You know, even the regular EMH Mark I is just as cranky as our Doctor."

Miral chuckled. "Would you expect anything different?"

Lizzie shook her head and smiled. "My mom has good news."

Her friend looked at her in confusion. "How can you tell?"

"I can sense her feelings. She's joyous and happy. It must be good news. I also heard her thoughts too at one point." Lizzie said, turning more toward Miral. "I wonder if the fact that she's my mother has anything to do with us being telepathic together."

Miral shrugged. "Could be? Do you think she can use her telepathic powers to fix us? Like Kes did?"

"Doubt it, also Kes propelled the _Voyager_, she didn't fix it." Lizzie said. Deanna walked to them after talking with a crewmember. "Good news?"

Deanna nodded. "Yes, could we talk in private perhaps? I know you're busy, but I'd like to talk to you alone."

Lizzie nodded. "Sure. By the way this is Miral Paris-Torres, my Chief Engineer. Tom and B'Ellona's daughter."

Deanna smiled. "I remember you. You were just a little girl when I last saw you. You've got your father's eyes."

"And my mom's forehead ridges!" Miral laughed. "I'll catch ya later. Have fun!"

Lizzie and Deanna made their way to the turbo lift. When Lizzie stepped into the lift she said, "I'm assuming that we'll want to talk in my ready-room or quarters?"

"If that's what you wish?" Deanne remarked. "I haven't seen your quarters yet though. Perhaps we can go there. Maybe have a bite to eat?"

"Or eat all the chocolate." Lizzie chuckled. "I think I already what you're going to tell me. The DNA tests came back positive. You are my mother and there is no doubt that it's true." She turned towards her mother. "I can read your thoughts, remember?"

"I do remember." Her mother smiled, a smile that was similar to her own. "I figured you would. But that doesn't mean we can't catch up on everything? I've missed about well your entire life! I'd like to get to know you, talk to you, bond with you."

"It's rather awkward for me. I mean the facts are here that you're alive, but my mind still thinks that you're dead." Lizzie drooped her head. "I know Betazoids believe in honesty to the point of rudeness. So you might as well know now that I might not be as well warm to you at first."

"Apparently I didn't age when I was dead. So I hope I will have a lot of time." Deanna smiled. The turbo lift reached the deck where Lizzie's quarters were. They walked out together with a sense of warmth between them. Even if it would take a while for Lizzie to feel like she was as close to her mother as she was as close to her father, she was relieved that she at least had a parent with her. They walked together into Lizzie's quarters, which was more like Lizzie and her father's quarters.

His stuff was still there, Lizzie hadn't really touched them, except to put them back where they belonged in the quarters, as if he was there. His trombone still stood in its place, untouched. Deanna noted this and ran her fingers along it.

"When was he kidnapped?"

Lizzie sat at the table. "A couple of weeks ago. I don't have the heart to put his stuff away, or to not have it out like he was never here."

"Did you share your quarters?"

"Yep! We tried have a two bedroom quarters but that didn't work out so well. I would sneak into bed with him every night, because I was so afraid. He would never get mad at me or send me back, but would stay up with me and tell me stories, about his adventures on the various _Enterprises_ he was on, about everything really. He told me about how he met you, and your wedding day and how happy he was. He told about how I was born." Lizzie went quiet after that. Deanna sat down at the table beside her.

"How long did you keep up sneaking into his bed?"

"At one point, he just decided to nix the whole two bedroom idea and I started sleeping with him. And we always did that, up until he was kidnapped. I know it may sound weird, but we were just very close. And I always felt safe with him, sometimes when something really bad would happen he would hold me until I fell asleep. Actually right before he was kidnapped a young lieutenant broke up with me. He was kidnapped too, but Pieter, dad's First Officer, comforted me a little bit in the turbo lift, but dad pretty much dropped everything and we want into his ready-room and he made me feel better. And then he ordered me to change into my uniform and go be helmsman." Lizzie laughed, "that made me forget about that lieutenant!"

"Will would let you serve? That sounds like him. He was hoping you'd be a boy though, and then you'd have so much in common! He really wanted to have a boy. But then I found out that you were going to be a girl and I just didn't have the heart to tell him, because he'd be so disappointed." Deanna chuckled. "Would you like me to get you something from the replicator?"  
"Mint tea please, hot." Lizzie smiled. "He told me he wanted me to be a boy. But then when I came he completely forgot about the whole father-son stuff and loved me with all of his heart. He also said that he felt like I was a piece of you." Lizzie laughed. "He said I'm nothing like you though."

"I'm glad that you and your father are so close. When I realized that it was true, that I've been dead these past twenty years, I began worrying about what kind of relationship you and your father would have. Did he tell you about his relationship with his father?" Deanna looked very grave.

"Yea, he told me when I was older, and he told me about how he felt bad sending me to live Aunt Kate for a few years when I was young." Lizzie clutched the mug she was just given.

Deanna nodded. "Aunt Kate? Kathryn Janeway?"

Lizzie nodded. "She always told me that you really got to know each other a lot during your pregnancies. And then when you died she pretty much just took me in as her own."

"Did her son grow up to be like your brother too?"

"No, her son was born still-born. Like a week after I was born. Weren't your due dates really close?" She took a sip of her tea.

Her mother nodded gravely. "I wish I could've been there to comfort her. I'm sure you were a comfort to her."

"I nursed from her. She took on the role as a mother. It makes sense too, I was a motherless baby and she was baby less mother." Lizzie chuckled. "She's always been there for me, as well as the rest of the _Enterprise_ crew. You'd be surprised as to who holds a big birthday party for me every single year."

"Who? Worf? I can't be Worf!"

Lizzie shook her head. "Nope! Jean-Luc!" Her mother gaped at her with surprise. "He hosts a big party every year at his vineyard. He invites everyone pretty much who's important to me and we pretty much become this big happy family for about a week! We do have remembrances for people who are no longer with us though. Uncle Jean-Luc used to have a service dedicated to you."

"He won't have to do that service any longer," Her mother smiled. "I remember it was sometime in the summer on Earth when I gave birth you. What date is it now?"

"Stardate 69356. I was born Stardate 57926, well actually, I was born in July of 2374, about a year after you and Dad got married."

"Yes, we were surprised to suddenly be having kids. I didn't even know if I could still have kids. But you came along!" She laughed. "Did you miss me at all?"

"I never knew you. How could I miss something I didn't even know I had?" Lizzie looked over the table at her mother. "I mean, no offense, but it's hard to miss something when you never really had it. I never really had a mother, sure Aunt Kate was the next closest thing, but I never really missed it."

"Not even when you're friends went off to their mothers' or talked about their mothers'?" Her mother asked. Lizzie had been told that her mother was a counselor, and realized that she was pretty good at that.

"I grew up on Starships. Sometimes there would be other children, but most of the time there wasn't. My best friend growing up was Miral, and she was like me, living on Starships all her life. My friends were the crew. At first the new ones would treat me like a child, but then, as they saw how Dad pretty much let me all but run the ship, they were more relaxed." Lizzie shrugged.

"I see."  
"Look, I'm not underdeveloped or anything. I'm happy the way I am. I've had a lot of socialization with people, even if they are older than me, but I'm happy. I always had the dream of being a Starship Captain and I've pretty much just worked my entire life to get that." She sat back in her chair.

"I never said you were underdeveloped. I find it interesting that you're life was centered around Starships, and that you still wanted to be Captain after living on them for so long." Deanna sighed. "I've known people who grew up on them to think of Starships as prisons."

"_Titan_ was my first home. _Enterprise_ will always be home though. And now she's mine, at least for now." Lizzie looked up at the bulkheads and sigh. "I'm more worried that Starfleet is going to take this all away because I haven't gone through all of the training, or because I'm not old enough."

"What does your Aunt Kate and Uncle Jean-Luc say?"

"Aunt Kate is backing me, and thinks that I'd make a fine Captain, as does Uncle Jean-Luc. They're on the board that will decide my fate as a Captain." Lizzie leaned forward and stood up. "I want to keep this so badly. I've worked and dreamed of this moment for my entire life." She paused. "Sure, it didn't happen as I wanted it to, and it happened far earlier than I expected it to, but I love this. I want to keep doing this, and I can't think of myself doing anything but this. This is what I want to do and it makes me happy. Sure it's stressful and sometimes I doubt myself, but I love this."

Deanna smiled and stood up. "I love Psychology and I had always wanted to help people through their problems. I loved my job as Ship's Counselor on the _Enterprise_ and the _Titan_. I understand what you're feeling. The job that you love most is being threatened to be taken from you, and you're afraid of that."

Lizzie nodded. "I'm glad that you seem to understand how I feel."

"Even if I don't understand, I'm your mother, I'm supposed to try my best to understand and do my best to support you. If I didn't, then I wouldn't be doing my job correctly." She smiled and reached a hand out to place onto Lizzie's.

"For someone who's only been a mother for one day, you seem to know a lot about it already." She chuckled.

"I'm a psychologist, I've learned from my clients who have made mistakes before. I've also technically been a mother for the past 20 years, but I just never got the chance to use it in practice."

Lizzie nodded. "I know this may sound strange, but I'm glad you're here. Makes me feel like I can bear some of it. And even though you were dead all of these years." She sighed. "I guess I have an easier time accepting you back because I don't think you would've chosen to be dead. So it's not your fault that you were gone. If you had left or something else of that nature I'd probably have a harder time accepting the fact that you were gone."

"Perhaps if I had committed suicide you would've been less accepting." Deanna noted and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "You know, this stuff isn't as good as the real thing."

"Dad always told me that you always preferred the real stuff. You just think it's not real and then you just develop this not liking it as much." She chuckled. "I grew up with just replicated food. Aunt Kate can't cook to save her life. Dad can cook, but we only had homemade meals every once in a while because he was so busy." She sat back. "I know I should probably going around being Captain right now, but I'm glad that we've reconnect I guess."

"We were connected before emotionally?"

"At least physically." She laughed. "We've still got a couple more days until we reach Earth. And a couple more days of me being Captain, maybe. They might actually think that I'm good enough for this job."

Deanna Troi, her mother, reached out and held Lizzie's hand. "And if it doesn't, then you'll most certainly be admitted into the Academy."

"Let's see if I can get through it with my grades in astro-science and mathematics."

"You're not good at those subjects?"

She shook her head. "I just can't get a grip on them. I'm a stellar student in history, diplomacy, I've taken the bridge officer's test several times and I've passed it with ease. I have all of what it takes to be a Captain, except the science and math stuff. I just don't get it."

"Have you tried a tutor?"

"Dad would sit with me and we would do my homework step by step, and you know how well versed he is, but I could just never get a grip on it. I can do basic algebra and mathematics pretty well. But higher than that it just clogs up my brain too much." She sat back in her chair and brought her hands behind her head. "I guess I don't see why I need it, can't I just leave that to my engineering team?"

"And what if they're all dead or not there to help you? What then?"

"Good point. Maybe I should get Arok to do a mind-meld on me, then I'll finally learn some of that stuff." She sighed.

Deanna laughed. Lizzie was beginning to realize that there was a bit of a resemblance between the two women, she pondered the similarities; the love of chocolate, the similar body types, and her father had been tall and broad, muscular, while Lizzie was short, barely touching five foot five. The hair was different of course, Deanna's hair was black, raven black, but seemed to have a similar texture as Lizzie's. The eyes were also different, at least in color, they had a similar shape to them however, they were round, deep, all seeing; her mother had black irises, while she had bluish, greenish, grayish eyes. Lizzie smiled at the thought, she could never truly figure out what color her eyes were, the boy she had been seeing previously said that they seemed to change from blue, to green, to gray.

She noticed that Deanna was looking at her closely and intently, "What?"

"Nothing, just admiring you. I always knew my daughter would be so beautiful." She smiled.

"You sound like Dad! 'Lizzie, you're such a beautiful person,' 'how did I get you as a daughter? You're so wonderful!'" She shook her head, "funny thing is, I hated it when he complemented me, at least when it came to my looks, because he said it so much!" She sighed and threw her hands into the air, "There was at least something every day, and it drove me nuts! And now I miss it." She turned to Deanna.

The two of them laughed, but the sound of someone at the door interrupted their joyful laughter. Lizzie leaned back and called, "Come in!" And Arok walked in, her proud head held high above her body. "What's up Arok?"

"I don't know what you mean by, 'What's up?' but I have a decoded message for you from Starfleet." She handed a pad to Lizzie, "you are to read it and then respond by a secure channel to Admiral Picard."

Lizzie took the pad and then walked over to her desk, where she sat down and inputted the contents of the pad into the computer. "Do you know which code I am to use?"

"Yes, Alpha Sigma 4. "

"Thank you, that will be Arok, it could be orders, although I'm not sure. I'll be on the bridge shortly to deliver orders there might be. Dismissed." She decoded the message after the elegant Vulcan woman left and then read through its contents. She sighed, "Uncle Jean-Luc, why are you doing this to me?"

Deanna stood up and walked over to the desk, "What does it say?"  
"Read it and weep," Lizzie said, she moved over to allow Deanna to read the message. She read it and frowned. "What are you going to do?"

"Go to my ready room and talk to him, see if I can change this. I can't do it." She shook her head. "It's unreasonable to expect me to go through with this, with what little I have."

"I'm sure if you talk to him he'll understand the situation and will change it."

Lizzie stood up and adjusted her uniform, "I'm going to the my ready room." She nodded gravely to Deanna and then walked out of the quarters, "You're welcome to join us on the bridge, but you might want to get another uniform, one that isn't out of date. Go to the quartermaster's station, Deck Three, he was kidnapped too but you can figure out how to use the equipment." She smiled.

"Alright, what rank should I choose?" Deanna followed her out into the turbo lift.

"Deck Three, Bridge." Lizzie said to the turbo lift. "Your previous rank. No one can contest that you are a qualified ship's counselor and commander. You're probably going to be my temporary First Officer, until I find the right one."

"You don't have a First Officer?"

"Yea, and I bet that a lot of people aren't going to happy with that. But I guess I just want to find the right one, one who I can trust and rely on more than anyone else, and I haven't found that person yet."

"It sounds like your First Officer is going to take to the responsibilities of a husband too!" She chuckled, her black eyes shining.

"Well, that doesn't like a bad idea! I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking at candidates!" Lizzie laughed. The turbo lift arrived at Deck Three, where they bid a short farewell and then the lift continued on to the Bridge. She stepped onto the bridge and walked calmly across it. "Status Mr. Dal?" Dal had been sitting in the Captain's chair.

"Unchanged Captain." He stood, "Are we to know what the contents of the message from Starfleet was about?"

"In a few minutes. I need to discuss something with Admiral Picard." She scowled, "Arok, can you patch a secure channel to the Admiral from my ready room?"

"Acknowledged. It is ready when you need it.

"Thank you." Lizzie strode into her ready room and sat down at her desk, she turned on the computer and accessed the secure channel to Admiral Picard. In a few nanoseconds she was looking at his face.

"Lizzie, how are you? I assumed you got the message." He was beaming at her.

"Yes, I did, and I'm not happy about it."

The old man was shocked. "I thought you would be happy about it."

"I'm not, you're asking me to do something that I can't do. I don't have enough resources to do it."

"Lizzie, I don't know what you're talking about. You have gotten what you've wanted."

"I haven't, more than half of the original crew is gone and I can't do this with only sixty three, no scratch that, sixty four people! I don't have any doctors, so I need a Chief Medical Officer and most of my people are being outsourced to Engineering because we barely have enough people there. We can't do this, we need more people. If we go through with this we might not succeed."

Picard smiled, "well it's a good thing I recommended you for this assignment. I'm afraid we can't do much in the way of all of your crewmembers, but I was going to inform you that we are sending a doctor your way. He's traveling on a freighter with several medical assistants. I'm sending you the coordinates of the rendezvous point now."

"Thank you! One second," She pressed and button to the bridge. "Dal, change of course, I'm sending you new coordinates, proceed at maximum warp!"

"Aye Captain." Came the response, and the stars shifted suddenly as the ship changed direction. "While it would be nice to have the rest of my crew filled, having at least doctor will make a big difference for now. I guess other than that I accept these orders."

Picard beamed through the screen, "Excellent. Good luck, although I have a feeling that you will succeed and won't need it."

"I'll take all the luck I can get. Thank Uncle Jean-Luc. This really takes a whole lot of weight off of my shoulders."

"Anything for my favorite first officer's daughter!" He smiled. "Picard out."

Lizzie stood up and smiled. "Well, I guess I had better tell the crew!" She strode out onto the bridge and sat down in her chair just as Dal was getting out.

"What are our orders, Captain?"

"I'm about to tell you." She pressed a button, the button that relayed communication throughout the ship. "This is the Captain speaking, we have received new orders from Starfleet. The Cardassians are causing trouble for Starfleet, and they've attacked Deep Space Nine, we're rendezvousing with a freighter that is carrying our new medical team and then we are going to proceed to Deep Space Nine, to assist in repairs, as well as to defend if necessary. We're the closest ship to Deep Space Nine, and it's unlikely that another ship will arrive for a couple of days after our arrival, which should be within the day. This is big, as our ranks are being preserved and we will continue to serve as a crew abroad _Enterprise_, that is if we succeed and don't end up blowing up Deep Space Nine in the process, but I'm certain that we will succeed.

"We also have a new crew member, Commander Deanna Troi, she will be serving as our ship's counselor, so let's welcome her to _Enterprise_." Lizzie gazed over at her mother, who stood on the port side of the bridge. "That'll be all, congratulations crew, we're still in business."

The helmsman pressed a button and the ship lurched into a higher warp, giving Lizzie a jolt. "I thought we were going at maximum warp?"

"I thought it would be more dramatic if we did that." Dal replied. "Hope you don't mind."

Lizzie smiled and gave a light chuckle. "Alright. Keep on course! We've got a job to do!"


End file.
